Mattress



`UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM P. FORD, OF OHENEYVILLE, LOUISIANA.

MATTRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,785, dated July 14, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM PRINCE FORD, of Cheneyville, in the parish of Rapides and State of Louisiana, have invented a new article of manufacture, being an Improvement in Mattresses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being -had to the annexed drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1, is a plan or face view of a sheet of my improved fabric. Fig. 2, is a section of the same in the line (x) (x) of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a section of the same doubled.

Similar letters of reference indicate corres ending parts in the several figures.

his invention consists of a newarticle of manufacture, viz, an improved mattress, made as herein described.

To enable others to make the fabric, I will proceed to describe the process of manufacture.

The moss must be first cleaned. It is then spun or formed by any suitable means into a loose rope of a uniform thickness, which might vary from half an inch to two and a half inches, according to the kind of bed desired. This rope may be doubled and twisted before weavin or woven single. It may be woven as a fil ing in a warp of twine as shown in the drawings where a, a, is the rope, and 1)19, the-threads of warp twine, or may be arranged as a warp and have a filling of twine woven into it; but I consider the former method by far the best. The twine may be made of cotton hemp or other substance. The warp threads of twine should be arranged in pairs close together, but with considerable spaces between the several pairs, the cb'ect being to use as little twine as will hold t e moss together.

The woven fabric may be used single as shown in Fig. 2, or may be doubled any number of times as shown in Fig. 3, according to the thickness of' the bed or mattress required.

Mattresses made in the manner described possess many of the qualities of feather beds.

Like the latter, they may be made up,H

after use, and have their elasticity and softness renewed. By the pressure upon them during use, my mattresses are slightly flattened; but by pressing in the edges of the bed, and beating it up, just as featherbeds are treated, the elasticity of the moss is 55 always restored, and the bed rendered soft Itis simply placed within the sacking in a heterogeneous mass, and by use it soon packs or cakes together and becomes hard.X Its elasticity can not be restored without opening the sack and forcibly tearing apart the fibers of the material. This peculiarity of returning elasticity in the moss, when put together in the manner described by me, renders my improvement one of great value,

as it forms a complete and cheap substitute for feathers, besides being more healthful than the latter. Feathers, owing to their animal origin, are, if not properly baked, liable to occasion sickness.

I do not claim, broadly, the use of moss as a material for stuffing bed-sacks. I am also aware that floor-mats composed of moss, twisted into hard ropes and woven, have long been known and used; therefore I do not claim such use or manufacture of moss.

But to the best of my knowledge and belief, no mattress composed of moss made up as described, and presenting the peculiar qualities herein set forth, wias ever before known or used. My improved mattress is therefore a new article of manufacture.

-Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, as a n ew articlev of manufacture- A mattress, when made in the manner herein described, of moss.

WILLIAM PRINCE FORD.

Witnesses:

M. R. AVIAII., C. E. JOUETT. 

